Angel Warrior
by archerdix0n
Summary: Hunter Winchester, unknown twin sister of Dean, is sent on a mission from the Angels to protect a certain group of survivors. Why this particular group of people was so special was lost to Hunter but she agrees nonetheless. Will Hunter let go of the past and move on when she mets someone in the group or will she be too damaged to even think about caring for someone? [Daryl/OC]
1. Chapter 1

Grunting, Hunter sliced through the last Croat, the sick sound of a body hitting the forest floor reminding her of her tour days - being in Georgia didn't help the memories being at bay either, the heat alone made her think of Iraq. Stepping over the bodies, she flung some of the brain matter and blood off her sword and continued on into the woods, beheading any Croat that came her way, eyes skirting around the ground in search of any kind of animal tracks - hell, she'll even take a squirrel at this point. Yet, it seems like all the wildlife just disappeared overnight, she didn't even hear any birds.

"Hello Hunter," Her shoulders slumped at the familiar gravelly voice and she tilted her head back, the last days sun-ray warming her face through the trees.

"Hey Cas, got any news for me?" She asked, turning around to greet the angel with a rare smile; Castiel returned it with his own awkward one.

"The Earth's population dwindled down from high five thousands to low two thousands," Cas reported, walking closer to Hunter until he was a couple feet away; she sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Not exactly what I wanted to hear but okay, great, anything else?" She asked, exhaustion clear in her voice. She had been on her own since the beginning, since her base got overrun, having gone days without sleep and now that game had been scarce lately, she's on the brink of starvation and had actually gotten used to the stomach cramps.

"This virus, it is the Croatoan virus but it's been altered," He paused, looking like he was trying to figure out how to find his words, "Some of the infected are smarter in ways to get food but there is no life left inside. Everyone is infected with it, not just the bitten or bled on." She threw her arms up in defeat.

"That's just great! Is that what Pestilence meant by it being "too late"?" At his nod, she sighed in frustration and tugged on her dirty hair.

"There's one more thing," He muttered, hesitant and shifted his weight on his feet.

"What is it?" She groaned, dragging her hands down her face before letting them fall to her sides as she stared at the uncomfortable angel. He cleared his throat and steeled himself, looking straight at her as he relaxed his face muscles into his "angel business" expression.

"We have a mission for you," He stated, tilting his head a bit as he watched her. She raised her eyebrow at him, scoffing as she looked away and crossed her arms.

"A mission, huh?" She laughed lightly, "What sort of "mission"?" A weary smile made it's way onto her face and Castiel knew she was close to snapping.

"A little girl, she got separated from her group and if you don't find her within the next few hours, she will die. She's a couple miles due west, she's up a small oak tree. Bring her back to her group and convince the leader to let you stay, your mission continues onto the group - you must protect them." An incredulous laugh interrupted him, making Cas look at Hunter with a slightly offended face.

"Excuse me?" Hunter asked, her voice a dangerously low and her gaze was deadly; Castiel shifted uncomfortably under her stare and cleared his throat.

"There's someone very important in that group and we can't watch over them constantly anymore, which is why I ask you of this. You are the only Angel that can walk freely and know exactly what's going on and what to do. They need you." He tried to convince her, a pleading tone under his assurance.

"Why can't one of my brothers do it?" Hunter asked, gazing off into the trees, ignoring most of what he said, desperate to get out of this mission - she didn't do well with other people, especially kids. She noticed Castiel's pause and looked over to see the guilty and sympathy shine in his eyes, the obvious frown marring his face.

"Oh c'mon!" She groaned, dropping her head back to face the sky. "That's great! Just...great. I get to spend who knows how long with my brothers - who don't even know they have a sister! Do they even know about this yet?" Hunter gave him a pointed look and he bowed his head, shuffling his feet again like a scolded child. She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, "Fucking hell, Cas. Go tell them and if they agree, bring them here and we'll get the show on the road. While you do that, I'll look for the girl, maybe I'll even call my favorite archangel," She raised an eyebrow at him and with a defeated sigh, he left with a flutter of wings.

Sighing, she twirled her sword and walked around aimlessly, calling out towards the sky, "Yo, Gabriel, get your ass down here," Looking over at the dead bodies, she figured she'd search their pockets to see what they've got while she waited for Gabe. Hunter was going through one of the jean pockets on her second body when a flutter of wings sounded behind her.

"Well, hello there," Hunter looked over her shoulder to send a wink and a smirk towards the archangel; it was a thing between them, the harmless flirting - they didn't deny that the other was attractive and had acted one day on impulse, the tension too much for them. However, in the middle of kissing, they couldn't help but feel like they were kissing one of their siblings and had a proper laugh about it. They still have the occasional kiss and, of course, the flirting but it was more like sibling banter. Gabriel was more of a brother to her than her biological brothers.

Hunter opened her mouth to throw a taunt at him but her hand brushed against something hard and square. Hoping beyond hope that it was what she thought it was, she let out a breezy laugh of pure joy when Hunter pulled out a brand new pack of smokes. Standing up, she waved the pack at Gabriel with a bright smile, "Jackpot." He rolled his eyes and chuckled a little when she came skipping towards him, eagerly tearing into the pack, sticking one of the cigarettes in her mouth as she searched her fatigues for a lighter.

Gabriel watched as she lit the cigarette and took a deep inhale, wondering why inhaling smoke brought a pleased, almost serene expression when he knew that it was burning her throat and lungs. Hunter could feel him staring at her, could feel his gaze follow her hand as she lifted it to take another drag; a tiny peak at him out the corner of her eye said everything to Hunter - he was curious about her smoking habit. She chuckled and took another drag before holding the cigarette out for him to take, raising an eyebrow at him challengingly while blowing the smoke out of her nose.

He scoffed and snatched the cigarette from her fingers, taking a deep drag and inhaled - only to promptly sputter and cough up the smoke, nearly dropping the cigarette before Hunter snatched it back, laughing heartily the whole time. She patted him on the back roughly, still chuckling as he gathered himself together; Gabriel just glared at her through his watery, red eyes. Hunter smiled at him cheekily before patting his cheek lovingly and flicked the now dead cigarette away.

"C'mon, Golden Angel, I got a little girl to find," She called back towards him, having gone a few meters before she noticed that he wasn't with her. He rolled his eyes and jogged to catch up with her. They walked in silence for a bit, Hunter thinking over what Castiel had told her and she frowned when she realized what he had said. Glancing over at Gabriel, she figured he would know - hopefully.

"Hey Gabe?" He hummed in acknowledgement. "Cas told me something earlier and it's bugging me. I was wondering if you could explain to me what it means?" He sent her an amused smirk and bumped her shoulder.

"I can't tell you what it means if you don't tell me what it is first," Hunter rolled her eyes and sighed in playful exasperation before shoving him lightly.

"He said and I quote, "You are the only Angel that can walk freely," What exactly did he mean?" She watched him, noticing how he stopped dead and just stared at her like a deer caught in headlights. He opened and closed his mouth a few times before he could utter a word and if Hunter was honest with herself, it was a first for her to see an Angel go speechless.

"I - I can't," He took a deep breath and looked around, "Look, I will tell you everything but not now and not here. Sophia is a few feet that way and you need to get the highway before it gets dark. It's not safe to be out in the open after dark, even for you. I gotta go, I'll see you soon, promise," He said in a rush, coming close to kiss her on the forehead before disappearing with a flutter of wings. Hunter sighed heavily and closed her eyes tightly, pinching the bridge of her nose before setting off in the direction that Gabe pointed out to her.

Sure enough, a small oak tree came into view with a pair of small green tennis shoes dangling from a branch. Before Hunter could call out to the girl, a flutter of wings and quiet cursing came from behind her and she knew that Castiel had convinced her brothers to join her - how, she didn't know nor did she want to.

"Hunter," Cas called out quietly, taking a few steps away from the two brothers towards the woman. Dean nor Sam knew who she was other than that she was a hunter and needed their help with something. From the back, they could tell she was quite tall, probably a couples inches shy under six foot, armed to the teeth, and probably had been living in the woods for some time, judging by the state of her military uniform and dirty hair. To be fair, neither of them were fairing too much in the shower department themselves but neither were ever in the state of dirty that she was in.

"Did you tell them, Castiel?" She asked him, surprising the shit out of the brothers by how deep and husky her voice actually was - they haven't seen her face, since she had yet to face them, but they had assumed that she would have sort of a high-pitched tone, more feminine. They noticed how Castiel hesitated and shifted his weight on his feet, as if he was uncomfortable or afraid of her and what her reaction would be to his answer.

"I wanted to wait until they came to you," He finally answered after a pregnant pause, making her tense up and nod curtly. She finally turned to face them and the brothers had a hard time trying to school their expressions to not show their shock - she looked almost like an exact copy of their mother in her twenties. Dean had to catch himself when he almost blurted out "Mom?". Hunter gave them a sly grin, cocking her hips to the side as she crossed her arms, looking them both up and down with observant and teasing eyes.

"Hello, boys. It's nice to finally meet my little brothers," She grinned at them, only having to wait a slight moment before all hell broke loose - she could only watch on in slight amusement as the boys rounded on Castiel, wanting to know why they never knew of her, why Cas didn't tell them, etc. When Castiel's panicked eyes met hers over the boys' shoulders did she intervene - that and the shouting match was attracting quite a few Croats.

Sighing, she took care of the Croats easily with a few practiced and well aimed swings. Hunter glanced over at the three, still arguing, the brothers not even noticing that they were almost Croat food. Rolling her eyes, she looted the bodies and grinned with joy when she came up with a couple more packs of smokes - looks like it was her lucky day. Pocketing the packs, she snuck up behind her brothers and whistled sharply, taking great joy when they both jumped with startled yelps.

"As much as I'd love to continue this family reunion, we have a job to do, so can we please?" Hunter asked, waving her sword impatiently towards the tree that Sophia was still up - only she climbed further up the tree after hearing the three men squabble. Dean sighed and scrubbed his face angrily before gesturing her forward, a silent 'go ahead'; Hunter just rolled her eyes at him before turning tail and stalking up to the oak tree.

Looking back at Castiel, she motioned him forward as she sheathed her sword. Furrowing his eyebrows, he came to stand next to her as she removed and handed him her weapons; the two swords strapped to her back, the machete on her thigh, her chest holster with the double Desert Eagles, and her Bowtech Compound bow. With a nod to him, she started to climb the tree, her combat boots finding purchase to the bark easily, making her closer to Sophia in record time. Before long, neither of the three could see her in the tree and Castiel sighed, turned to lean against another tree next to the oak, gently setting Hunter's weapons on the ground next to him.

"Now, we wait," He said gravely, moving to sit on the ground as well. The brothers shared a look and a shrug before going to sit on the ground in front of Castiel.


	2. Chapter 2

Dean wasted no time at all as Hunter climbed the tree, rounding on Castiel with hard eyes, "How the hell is this chick our sister? What, did dad just go around and have kids with whoever?" He asked harshly, grinding his teeth when Cas just looked at him passively.

"Dean.." Sam protested weakly, wanting to know the answers as well but not with the way Dean was approaching it.

"She's your twin sister, Dean," Cas answered, eyes looking up the tree that Hunter had climbed moments ago. He could hear her talking to the girl, trying to get her to come down. There was a silent pause as the brothers processed the news.

"How is that possible? If she's Dean's twin, shouldn't she have been with us?" Sam asked, eyebrows furrowing in curiosity. Dean was silent, staring at the ground as the muscles in his jaw flexed.

"Your father gave her up for adoption, proclaimed he couldn't take care of three kids, let alone a female," Cas bowed his head as Dean scoffed angrily and got up, pacing between the trees; Sam just shook his head sadly before looking down at his lap.

"That son of..." Dean growled, moving to kick one of the dead bodies a few feet away from them.

"Was - was she save? Did she go to a good home?" Sam asked quietly, looking up at Cas timidly. Castiel tried to smile a bit but it came out more of a grimace.

"I wish I could tell you more but Gabriel was the one who watched over her, he'd tell you what you want to know. Or you could ask Hunter herself," He suggested, tilting his head a bit as he watched Dean. He knew how the other male felt about his father, knew how he thought the father did no wrong but now that Dean knew that he put his only sister - his twin sister - up for adoption, it made Dean furious. So many years wasted of not knowing, thinking he only had Sam and now that it was the apocalypse, he suddenly has two more siblings - one that was actually his twin for fucks sakes!

"Gabriel!" Sam called out, being mindful to not be too loud yet loud enough for an angel to hear.

"Why is Gabriel her "guardian angel"? I thought you were, I mean, she's a Winchester, isn't she?" Dean asked, pacing in front of the two. Castiel sighed and shrugged a little.

"We knew she was a Winchester, yes, but her name was O'Brien at the time, so she went to Gabriel. It made sense at the time since she was always with two of his other charges," Cas explained, fiddling with Hunter's bow string. Sam furrowed his eyebrows and tilted his head.

"O'Brien?" He asked, scoffing a little with a snort. Castiel raised an eyebrow at him and Sam had enough sense to look shameful as he dropped his head.

"She went to an Irish couple, yes. From age four to twenty-five, she lived in Ireland. She came back to the states, on a ferry, with two of her friends and stayed in Boston until she enlisted in Marines on her thirtieth birthday," A voice said from behind the tree Castiel was leaning against. Gabriel stepped out and did a slight bow before plopping next to Cas.

"Why did you wait 'till now to tell us, you dick?" Dean growled, narrowing his eyes at Gabriel, ignoring how Sam threw a look at him. Gabriel just smirked up at him.

"Because she didn't want us to tell you nor did she want you to know. Yet," Gabriel explained lightly, still smirking up at Dean. Sam rolled his eyes in exasperation and clicked his tongue.

"So, what, we have an older sister and a younger half-brother?" The two angel nodded in confirmation. Dean laughed dryly before muttering "great" under his breath.

"Hunter is actually Dean's twin, if you yahoos missed that tidbit," Gabriel mocked, picking apart a stick he found next to him. Sam just rolled his eyes again.

"We know, I just figured she was the older one since she said "younger brothers"," Sam said, flicking a piece of grass at Gabriel as Dean glared at the trees. Seems he didn't like that he was no longer the older brother, in the blood sense, but that didn't mean he was accepting that this lady was his older sister - his sister, yes, but not older. Nope.

"Wait, does Chuck know about her?" Sam suddenly asked, causing Dean to stop his pacing, eyes darting between the three men rapidly. The two angels shared a look before Gabriel sighed tiredly.

"Unfortunately, yes, just not in your series. Hers was a separate series, a little longer then yours, granted, but still the same," Gabriel explained, shooting Cas a glare when he tried to knock an arrow on Hunter's bow. Castiel just shrugged a little, handing the bow to Gabriel with a tinge of embarrassment.

"Are her books gonna be part of the "Winchester Gospel" or whatever it's suppose to be now?" Dean demanded, eyebrows furrowed angrily. Castiel absentmindedly licked his lips before answering - a habit he picked up from the brothers.

"No, hers won't be, not anymore. If things were different, then, yes, perhaps they would be - however," He paused, glancing over at Gabriel before continuing, "her story doesn't exactly...give her a good light. When people read your story, they loved you both - unconditionally. They admired you. When they read Hunter's story, however...they despised her. Wanted her dead," Seeing the boys' expressions, Gabriel jumped in before they started shouting.

"Chuck had to stop her books after the threats got too bad, thought that if someone was crazy enough, they might've gone after her," The boys scoffed.

"Still, why would they admire us but want her dead? What the fuck did she do that would have hundreds of people out for her blood? And how come we never knew about these books?" The two angels just stared at Dean with blank expressions long enough for him to shift uncomfortably.

"That's a conversation for another time and we ordered Chuck to not inform you," Castiel said, looking up at the tree that Hunter went up with rapid attention. Gabriel just sat there and continued to play with Hunter's bow.

A rustle of leaves caught the boys' attention and all of them stiffened as they waited for Hunter to come down with the girl. Much needs to be explained and they didn't really have the leisure to sit around outside after dark anymore.

"Sophia?" Hunter called out softly, gripping the tree branch tightly as she cautiously made her way towards the small girl. The twelve-year-old blonde girl eyed Hunter warily, clutching the ratted doll to her chest and shrunk further into the bark; the poor girl was dirty and looked exhausted. "It's okay, sweetie, I was sent to come find you, bring you back to your ma, to your group. It's okay,"

Sophia still stared at Hunter warily and whimpered, "Who are you? I don't know you," Her bottom lip started to quiver and Hunter cursed silently - she doesn't do crying children - or crying anyone, for that matter.

"My name is Hunter, I was sent to find you, you just have to trust me on this. I'm going to take you back your ma, I promise you that," She said softly, holding a hand out towards the girl. Hunter could hear angry, hushed voices down from below and she figured that the boys were trying to tear Castiel a new one. Her suspicions were confirmed when a sudden controlled shout of "Gabriel!" sounded throughout the forest, causing the girl to jump a bit; she didn't have to hear to know that a flutter of wings would come next.

"I have a few friends down there waiting for me," She explained, rushing to add once she saw the girl's eyes widen in fear, "It's alright though, they're good people, they won't hurt you, I promise on my ma's life, bless her soul," Sophia stared at Hunter for a few more beats before nodding hesitantly, scooting towards her to wrap her arms around Hunter's neck.

"It'll be easier for me to climb down if you were on my back," She said, gripping the girl's legs gently before maneuvering her behind. Hunter made sure the girl had a tight grip on her before descending the tree, looking down periodically to make sure she got her footing right - the last thing she wanted was to fall out of the tree and land dead center on the poor girl.

When Hunter was closer to the ground, she decided to drop the rest of the way, making the small girl let out a tiny shriek and clung to Hunter, even when they landed safely on the ground. Hunter patted the Sophia's hands, reassuring her that she was safe and sound before tugging at her death grip. Turning to face the small group, she raised her eyebrows at her brothers' furious aura and the angels' aloof stature - clearly her brothers didn't understand the definition of 'patience'.

"What did I miss?" She asked, trying to lighten the atmosphere but the tension was so thick, it was no use - plus, with the looks she was getting, it wasn't appreciated either. She sighed and rolled her eyes, crouching down so Sophia could get off her back easy. Spinning on the balls of her feet, she gripped the girl's hands gently and smiled softly at her.

"Sophia, these are my brothers, Sam and Dean," Hunter said, pointing them out for the girl. She smiled shyly at them, eyes taking in their massive forms. "And these are my friends, Gabriel and Castiel," She continued, nodding towards the two sitting angels. Sophia waved timidly at them all before making her way towards Sam, who was still sitting. Sam just watched the girl warily, wondering what she was doing; Sophia just smiled gently at him before wrapping her arms around his neck in a hug, making Sam stiffen with a wide-eyed, shocked expression, his gaze snapping up to Hunter's.

"Looks like little Sophia here wants you to carry her back, Sam," Hunter chuckled, standing up and stretched out her limps, sneaking a glance at Dean - who had returned to glaring at the trees - before making her way towards the angels, smirking at Gabriel who just made a face at her in return; she just chuckled as she bent down to gather her weapons.

"Well, c'mon, we only have about an hour and a half before it gets dark and the highway is about three miles that way," She murmured after she was done, pointing North with her one of her swords. Hunter didn't wait long for them to get ready, taking point as she lead them through the forest, slicing the random Croats that got in their way before any of them could lift a weapon.


	3. Chapter 3

It was dusk by the time they reached the highway, all of them - minus the Angels - were exhausted, Hunter nearly on the stage of passing out as she was the one who took point and taken care of any walkers that stumbled across them. Sam had asked Sophia if she could see anyone from her group on the long stretch of road, which she nodded and pointed at the RV that was a few yards to the right of them; they could see two people amongst the cars and Hunter could cry from relief when she saw her truck not too from where the RV was stationed.

As they made their way through the cluster of cars, four more people emerged through the woods, heading directly towards the RV and an old man holding a rifle. After hearing Sophia excitedly whisper, "That's my mom!", Sam let her down so she could go to her, the rest of them following close behind her.

"Mom!" Sophia shouted, running at full speed towards her mother, who cried in shock and elation at the sight of her unharmed daughter, dropping to her knees as Sophia got within distance and pulled her into a tight hug, sobbing as she held on for dear life. Hunter smiled slightly at the reunion, hanging back with her group a few feet back as they all watched the mother and daughter hug.

"Where did you find her?" The old man asked her in awe but with a bit of distrust in his eyes; Hunter mentally nodded her head in approval - you can't trust anyone these days, especially one who shows up with a lost child and a group of mostly men.

"Up a tree, sir, had to coast her down," She replied stiffly, reverting back to the obedient solider that she was. She saw her brothers give her a look in the corner of her eye but she ignored them, staring straight at the man so he could see that she was telling the truth. Finally, he nodded and stuck his hand out, which she took and shook it firmly.

"I'm Dale, thank you for finding Sophia and bringing her back," He thanked her, smiling genuinely at her now. She allowed a small one in return.

"Names Hunter, these are my brothers, Dean and Sam," She said, pointing them out as they nodded in greeting, "Dean's boyfriend, Castiel," She, again, ignored the death looks and snickers, "and Sam's boyfriend, Gabriel," Now, she was getting death looks from all of them but she was enjoying their discomfort too much to care. She also noticed how none of them were deny her claims, which made her chuckle in joy - ''Bout damn time they grew some balls,' She thought to herself as she grinned at a shocked Dale.

"Well, our leader is sort of in a delicate situation right now but you're welcome to stay with us, if you're willing," Dale started, sweeping his hand out behind him to include the others. A man welding a crossbow heard this as he walked past and he immediately came up to the old man, scoffing.

"Ya serious? We don't know these people. They could be psychos for all we kno'" He growled, glaring at the group before him, his body tense as if waiting for an attack; Hunter eyed him curiously, trying to figure out what crawled up his ass and died.

"Here, I'll give you a little background. Hunter O'Brien, Master Gunnery Sergeant of the Marine Corps, grew up in Ireland, moved here at twenty-five with two friends, got call back from my tour in Iraq to take care of this bullshit - only to watch as my whole platoon got torn to shreds and lost some fine soldiers. That enough?" She snarled, green eyes blazing in the darkening sky. The man just scoffed and walked off, heading towards a motorcycle, which she assumed was his since he set his crossbow next to it. A blonde woman came up to stand next to Dale, her hip cocking out to the side as she crossed her arms and gave Hunter a disgusted look.

"Daryl's right, we don't know who they are. A group with four men and one woman? Sure, they brought Sophia back but how do we know that they didn't take her? Tortured her to get her to tell them where her group was, kill and rob us?" She sneered, anger and hatred swirling in her eyes. Hunter narrowed her eyes and took a step toward the woman, preening with satisfaction that she took a step back, fear now seeping into her eyes as she took in the other blonde's weapons.

"If that's who you think we are, then I pray you don't run into worse people because you won't last long," Hunter threatened, her voice dropping to a deep bass. "I don't think you heard me earlier when I said that those guys are gay and I know for a fact that they'd rather rip off their own dick before touching a little girl inappropriately. You think we brought the girl back to her ma just to turn around and kill her? You don't think we could've done that after she told us about her group? Spent all day trekking the woods and almost being walker food just to bring her here and murder y'all? For what? A few supplies? Sweetheart," Hunter mocked, her Irish accent bleeding through as she got angrier, "I don' need ya food or ya goddamn weapons, y'all have nothin' tha I don' al'eady 'ave, so w'at would ta poin' of killin' y'all be? I don' kill just ta kill, I kill ta stay alive, jus' as we all 'ave been. So, ya can go shove ya righteous, self-pretentious bullshit up ya ass and mind your own fuckin' business." She spat on the ground by the blonde's feet before pushing past her, bumping her shoulder roughly as she did so, and made her way towards her car.

"That was hot," She heard Gabriel mutter in awe before a smacking sound resounded in the air followed by a yelp and she knew that Sam hit him; she chuckled drily before sighing in relief as her '72 red Dodge Challenger sat in front of her. It had been a rough day and she felt a lot better knowing she still had her car - she didn't care if it was dirty and had walker blood smeared all over it, it was still her baby and she'd rather die then have to ditch it somewhere.

"That yours?" A small voice spoke up from behind her. Hunter stiffened and spun around, her sword already in her hand before she realized what she was doing; noticing it was the young Asian boy from the group, she relaxed and sheathed her sword once again, glaring at the boy as he shifted uncomfortable on his feet, shoving his hands deep into his pants pockets. She let him squirm for a bit before answering him, taking pity on the poor boy.

"Yea, it's mine - had it since I was sixteen. Took it with me after I left Ireland. Couldn't bear it to leave her behind and that's not gonna change just because the apocalypse happened," She joked, walking around to the trunk and unlocked it, knowing the boy was following close behind her so she shifted her duffel bag a bit to hide the latch to her secret compartment - no need for the boy to know what she did for a side job - and set her bow and arrows behind it.

"I'm Glenn, by the way. Sorry about Andrea, she - she's been on edge the past couple days...we all have," Glenn muttered, kicking at the asphalt. Hunter just hummed in understanding as she shrugged her military jacket off and chucked in the trunk next to her gear, leaving her in a black racer-back tank top. Hunter went through her routine of emptying out her pockets and throwing whatever she found into the trunk, so she didn't hear Glenn's gasp of excitement when her tatted up arms were revealed. She was pulling out a cigarette from one of her many new packs when Glenn reminded her that he was still next to her.

"I didn't peg you as a Pokemon fan," He stated with a grin, gesturing to her arm when she shot him a confused look. Hunter looked down at her arm as if she forgot there was a full sleeve of different Pokemon ranging up and down her arm; she smirked at him as she lit her cigarette and leaned against the bummer.

"There's a lot of things you don't know about me," She pointed out, raising an eyebrow as Glenn shrugged before nodding. Hunter chuckled a little as she took a drag and licked her lips, preparing to share the story behind her sleeve, "Pokemon was my life in the 90's - of course, we didn't get it until it already aired for a few months and it was in Gaelic but goddamn, made my teenage years, I tell ya," Taking another drag, she looked over at where her brothers and angels were milling about - the hunters were speaking with Daryl and the angels were listening intently to whatever Dale was telling them. "After I moved here, I thought, why the fuck not? Saved up enough cash and got all my favorite Pokemon tatted on my arm. Came in handy during boot camp, too," She sent Glenn a mischief grin as she finished her cigarette and stomped on it.

Hunter noticed a figure huddled in the back of RV behind Glenn and she furrowed her eyebrows, glancing over at the Asian boy before nodding towards the figure, "Who's that?" Glenn spun around to see who she was talking about and his shoulders slumped, heading bowing before looking over his shoulder at her.

"That's T-Dog. He's got a blood infection, cut his arm pretty badly on one of the cars and we couldn't find any sort of medicine in any of them," He explained, frowning as he watched his friend shiver violently under the dying heat of the sun. Hunter frowned as well, humming in thought as she turned and re-opened her trunk, digging around in her personal duffel bag for her first aid kit. Holding the metal tin under her arm, she made sure no one was watching her before opening her secret compartment and dug around until she found her baggy of drugs - all prescription and from a pharmacy she looted last week. Snapping the lid closed, she slammed her trunk and re-locked it, setting her things down on the hood before motioning for Glenn to bring his friend over to her.

Looking over to her brothers, she caught Gabriel's attention and motioned him over. Sniffling, she dug around in her pockets to find a hair tie and piled her greasy blonde hair into a bun, praying she can find a stream or a small body of water soon to take a bath. As she waited for Glenn and Gabriel, she popped open her first aid kit and set to work on filling a syringe with morphine; feeling someone coming up behind her, she took a quick glance to see Glenn helping T-Dog shuffle over to her. Noticing that it was his right arm injured, she scanned over her car quickly and wrenched open the driver's side, rolling down the window as the duo stopped in front of her, Gabriel sauntering up next to them - she gave him a look as she climbed out of her car, to which he just shrugged at.

She smiled gently at T-Dog, "Hi, I'm Hunter and I saw that you hurt your arm pretty bad. Is it alright if I take a look at it?" The way he was just staring at her was making her uncomfortable, so she tried a different approach. "If it'll make you feel better, I know what I'm doing - my friend was a Combat Medic and, ya know, being in the military, ya kinda have to know these things. Plus, I have morphine to help-" She cut herself off when he suddenly stumbled towards her, catching the door frame in time and plopped himself down onto the leather seat; T-Dog looked up at her expectantly, holding his injured arm out the open window.

Chuckling, she motioned for his other arm and prepped him for the syringe, patting his arm gently after she was done. While she waited for the morphine to kick it, she went around to the passenger side and dug out the travel size bottle of cheap whiskey - she can always go looting for more later, right now was more important. Jogging back over, she noticed T-Dog was smiling stupidly at nothing, so she assumed that the morphine was working; snickering, she went over to Gabriel and told him to keep T-Dog distracted while she tending to him. Pouring the whiskey over her hands, she rubbed the alcohol in and up her forearms a bit, shaking off some of the access as she opened a new needle and thread. But first, she had to see how big this cut was before she measured out the thread and knotted it.

Grabbing a pair of surgical scissors, she carefully cut the electrical tape of his make-shift bandage and peeled it off, wincing when blackened veins and angry flesh greeted her. Hearing a small groan of discomfort, she looked up at T-Dog to see him chatting peacefully with Gabriel; furrowing her eyebrows in confusion, she glanced around her to see Glenn eyeing T-Dog's arm with a queasy expression. Rolling her eyes, she told him to go keep her brothers company, seeing as he was close to barfing everywhere and she'd rather not deal with a queasy stomach herself.

Hunter sighed, prepping the needle and thread before kneeling next to her car door so she was eye-level with her work and wasted no time at stitching the wound, the occasional wince and groan from T-Dog when she hit a tender spot. She was half way done when the sound of stomping boots came from behind her - knowing that almost everyone wore heavy boots nowadays, she took a quick glance behind her and was surprised to see Daryl swaggering up to her. She gave him the briefest of nods as an acknowledgment before going back to her work, trying to finish it quickly as the sun went further down.

"Hey," Daryl grunted, setting a pill bottle on the hood of her car, "Got some antibiotics for 'Dog. Doxycycline, think they'll help?" Hunter hummed, nodding her head distractly as she squeezed T-Dog's skin together and gently pushed the needle through a tender spot.

"Generally, any type of antibiotic can cure Sepsis, so that'll definitely help but isn't Doxycycline mainly for treating the clap?" She asked, glancing up at him just in time to see him grimace.

"My brother, they're his," He explained, nodding to the pill bottle. Hunter 'ah'ed with a nod, finishing up the stitches and bandaged his arm with a fresh roll of gauze. She washed her hands again in alcohol before grabbing the pill bottle, reading the instructions on it and caught a glimpse of a name. Merle Dixon. 'Well, thank you, Merle Dixon,' Hunter thought as she shook out a couple and gave them to T-Dog before giving the bottle back to Daryl.

"The group's about to head out, towards a farm. Our leader's kid got shot while we were out looking for Sophia and we're about to go meet up with them," Daryl said, pocketing the bottle. Although he was speaking with her, she could tell he was not comfortable with her yet and probably only came over to see what she was doing with T-Dog - she wasn't quite comfortable with him either but her body obviously was by the way it was reacting to him just talking. The man has probably the most sexist voice she ever came across and that was saying something when Castiel's around.

"Good. 'Cause although T-Dog's out of the ball park right now, he still needs an IV to get his blood pressure and fluids back up and I don't have that kind of thing on me," She mumbled as she dug around in her pockets for her smokes. As she lit one, she noticed Daryl was eyeing her pack with a look she knew belonged to a smoker who hadn't had one in a while; smirking, she offered him the pack and with a raised eyebrow, he took one with a nod of thanks. Chuckling, she shook her head and offered him the pack again.

"Take it, I found a few more on a couple of the corpses," She was careful on not saying 'Croats' because then it'd just raise more questions that she didn't want to answer. With a shrug, he pocketed the pack with a grunt and produced a lighter, lighting his cigarette quickly and leaned against a neighboring car. Leaning against her own car, she enjoyed her cigarette and watched her brothers bicker with their angels, while Glenn was helping T-Dog into the RV as she saw Sophia and her mom laughing from the window. She snorted when Gabriel jumped on Sam and planted a sounding kiss on the giant.

"What happened to ya face?" Hunter's head snapped around at the question, looking at Daryl with furrowed eyebrows and a head tilt.

"What?" He gestured to the left side of his face before pointing at hers. Hunter froze, cigarette dangling from her lips as she tried to find the right excuse to explain the three claw marks marring the left side of her face. She was wondering when someone would have the balls to ask her but she wasn't expecting it to be so soon after she met them, she didn't have enough time to think up a lie.

"Wolf," Might as well tell half the truth, "Went hiking in the woods and got attacked. Was lucky to keep my eye," She shrugged, taking a deep drag and prayed that he'd believe her - not that he should, she was still just a stranger to them but she hoped she gained some of his respect in the short half an hour from their encounter.

"Where?" He narrowed his eyes at her, his own cigarette dangling from his lips and she had to fight the inappropriate thoughts away.

"Backwoods of Ireland. Really, it's nothing, past is the past, nothing to do about it now," She tossed her now dead cigarette on the ground and turned around to pack up her kit, tossing it in the backseat. She looked over her shoulder to see Daryl was still watching her, his cigarette dead on the ground as well. "Well? Thought we had to go meet up with the rest of your group?" She grinned as he rolled his eyes and stomped back to his bike. Whistling a four-tone, she beckoned her brothers over once she got their attention and they all piled into her tiny car, Dean sitting up front with her while the others sat in the back, Gabriel having to sit on Sam's lap with his feet in Castiel's - neither of them protested (save for Cas, who poked at his brother's leg with a frown) as she pulled up behind Daryl in the convoy.


	4. Chapter 4

Hunter tapped her fingers against the steering wheel, waiting for someone to speak up and explain shit to her but seeing as they just drove to the entrance of the farm in dead silence, they were waiting for her to start the conversation. Rolling her eyes, she turned to follow Daryl down the dirt path, sweeping a glance over all four of them and noticed they were all pointedly looking away from her.

Growling, she spoke up, "Alright, who wants to explain what the fuck is going on?" More dead silence followed her question, so she asked a different one, "Gabe, what's the word on Con and Murph?" She eyed him in the rear view mirror and saw the disheartened expression that fell on his face. A cold feeling settled in her chest, spreading it's icy threads throughout her veins.

"They're dead, aren't they?" Hunter questioned quietly; Gabriel's silence was enough to answer her. Nodding mutely, she parked behind Daryl and exited her car, not even waiting for the others to scrabble out as she rounded to her trunk and grabbed her bow and arrows.

Slamming her trunk closed once again, she past by the four men with a parting, "Don't kill anyone," as she stalked past the rest of the group and towards the woods, the tightening in her chest getting worse at every step she took - she knew it was only a matter of time before the thread snapped and she became a sobbing mess, she just hoped she was well within the deep of the forest before that happened.

The angels starred after her with remorse as her brothers just looked at each other with raised eyebrows.

"Alright, what's up with her?" Dean asked, crossing his arms as he leaned against the car. Gabriel sighed and rubbed his face, Castiel resting his hand on his shoulder as an act of comfort. He briefly touched Cas' hand before he lifted his head and looked at the brothers.

"Connor and Murphy MacManus were her friends - from Ireland," Gabriel explained and Sam cocked his head.

"These the friends she came across the pond with?" He asked and both angels nodded; Dean, however, was still hung-up on the MacManus'.

"These MacManus' - these guys aren't the Boston Saints, by any chance, right?" He pleaded, eyes jumping from one angel to the other - their expressions weren't helping his raising anxiety.

"Great. That's just great - our "supposedly" older sister was in cahoots with the fucking Boston Saints, fantastic," Dean growled, running a hand through his hair in frustration. "What, did she go around, killing people, too? Thinking she was doing "God's work"?"

"It doesn't matter anything, not anymore, now does it?" The Archangel spat, standing toe-to-toe with the older Winchester, eyes blazing amber with his anger. Castiel tugged his brother back while Sam kept a hold on his brother's chest to prevent anymore fighting - they were already getting looks from their new group, anyways.

"How do you know Hunter? Or, well, meet her, I guess," Sam asked, shoving his hands in his pants pockets when Dean calmed down a bit. Gabrel sighed heavily as he bowed his head and hunched his shoulders - Sam had never seen the Archangel act this way before, he was always so outgoing and annoying.

"I pulled her from the Pit," the answer was so quiet that the other three wouldn't have been able to hear it if they weren't waiting for it. Shock and guilt shown in the brothers eyes, each for different reasons; for Sam, it was because if Gabriel hadn't pulled his sister out, he would've never know that he even had a sister but for Dean - he just wished that no one would ever have to experience Hell, especially one of his own family, even if he hasn't come to terms with the newly added twin sister.

Dean opened his mouth to ask what happened when the Asian kid, Glenn if he remembered correctly, came over to them, "Hey guys, we're heading in and Rick wants to thank you for finding Sophia, maybe even ask you all to stay if you want to," He grinned at them for a moment before he frowned, obviously noticing a member missing, "Where's Hunter?"

"Hunting," Gabriel smirked, quietly snorting; Glenn just rolled his eyes and motioned for them to follow him. Only then did the men notice that during their talk, all of the others had ventured into the farm house.

As soon as the four entered the house, they felt the atmosphere shift from somber and happy to tense and serious, making a few of the group members shift awkwardly. The brothers looked around and saw a few people steering clear of them, while two men stood tall in front of the ladies - as if the four strangers where going to cause harm to them right in front of them.

"Rick, these are the guys that met us on the highway and brought Sophia back," Glenn explained to one of the men, who stepped forward with a small smile; he didn't seem so threatening now that he knew who they were - technically.

"Rick Grimes, I'd like to thank you for finding and bringing little Sophia back to us," The guy, Rick, said as he held out his hand to shake each of theirs. Sam just waved his appraisement off, so used to people not thanking them for doing their jobs.

"It's no trouble, honestly. I'm Sam, this is my brother, Dean," He pointed Dean out before pausing, thinking a bit to himself as he turned to face Gabriel, "My boyfriend, Gabriel, and his brother - and Dean's boyfriend - Castiel," Sam beamed at Rick as Dean's dark scowl burned into his back; Rick just snickered quietly at the sibling banter.

"Daryl told me there were five of you but I only see four, where's the other one?" The other man - stern looking with his sturdy build and shaved head - sneered at them, having moved to the way back of the room with his arms crossed.

Dean rubbed the back of his head and shrugged a little, a sheepish grin lifting his lips, "She, uh, went hunting," Rick furrowed his eyebrows at him.

"At night? Doesn't she know that it's not safe to be out there?" He stressed, hands resting on his hips like a concerned parent. Gabriel stepped forward with his hands raised slightly, trying to defuse whatever argument that'll take place between the stubborn Winchester and the groups' leader.

"She's fine, she can take care of herself. Besides, she just received some devastating news about her friends and needs some time alone - she'll come back and probably with something to eat. That's her thing - her way of coping - she goes out and hunts, sometimes for a few hours or a few days. The longest she's been out was almost a week and she has always come back fine," Gabriel paused, staring at Rick before his eyes darted to Glenn and Daryl, "Please don't go after her, you'll only make it worse and you might get hurt in the process,"

"Great, so she's a nutcase? Why don't we just leave her out in those woods, save us all the trouble she'll most likely bring," The man scoffed, shifting on his feet as several people snapped their attention to him.

"Shane!" A tall woman with long brown hair gasped, shocked at the man's - Shane's - attitude. The group was even more shocked when Castiel strode straight up to Shane, eyes a blazing blue with anger.

"You watch your tone, that woman might just save your life if you aren't more respectful," He growled through his teeth, glaring a blue fury into the man's soul. There was a tense silence as Rick walked up to the angel and pulled him back from Shane, Castiel willingly going with the human's pull, remembering that he couldn't reveal his true species.

"No, Shane's right, if she's unstable, she can't stay here. You four are welcome to the group if you wish to stay but if you have someone that could potentially snap and kill someone, she has to go," He tried to reason with the other men while Shane stood behind him with a smug grin.

"She's not unstable," A small voice spoke up from behind the group, making everyone turn to see little Sophia standing in the doorway that connected the kitchen and living room, "She's not, she saved me, she brought me back, she's good! She didn't try to hurt me, none of them did, they're all good!" She cried, hands clutching her doll like a lifeline as she tried to convince the adults that Hunter wasn't going to harm them. Carol kneeled down next to her daughter to hug her tightly, trying to calm her down with quiet reassurance.

"Alright, alright, look. We'll wait until she comes back and do an interview of sorts, background check, anything to see if she's dangerous, that alright?" Rick asked, eyes darting around everyone to see if there was any objections - only Shane and Andrea opposed but he oversaw them, knowing something had changed with the two and Rick wasn't sure how he was suppose to deal with them.

They didn't have to wait long for her to show up, only about half an hour since Rick put an end to the improved meeting. She had knocked on the door, timidly, almost as if she knew that they were talking about booting her to the woods, and when Dean had opened the door for her, everyone was shocked to see the state that the woman was in. Grime and blood covered her from head to toe, her hair a matted mess that hung limply around her face with drying blood that Rick wasn't even sure what color her hair was.

What really interested Rick was the military fatigues that she was wearing, along with the weapons donned on her person - he knew instantly that she knew how to take care of herself and do it well; she was built to survive this world, just like Daryl and Rick knew without a doubt her brothers were as well.

"I'm sorry for taking off like that," She spoke quietly, mostly just her small group but her eyes darted around the others as well, "I - I had to clear my head, I know it was stupid to go out into the woods at night but I'm fine, I'm alright. It's second nature for me to wander around at night, I'm like a cat," She joked lightly, a small smirk lifting her lips before it fell a second later. "I - I caught a boar, brought it back. It's outside, on the porch, I'll clean up the blood tomorrow, I promise. I just...please, take the boar, cook it for dinner, I don't care. Just think of it as my little peace offering," She spoke the last part to Rick, seemingly knowing that he was the leader of the rag-tag group.

No one said anything as they still starred at her in shocked silence, making her sigh quietly and nodded at them as she turned to leave, most likely heading out to her car. Sighing heavily, Gabriel excused himself as he went to follow her, to comfort his best friend-turned-little-sister the best way that he can.

"Hunter!" He called out, jogging to catch up to her - she had practically sprinted away from the house, wanting to get away from the awkward tension she undoubtedly caused.

"Huntie, wait a second, talk to me," Gabriel pleaded, coming to a stop next to her as she hunched over the hood of her car. Before he knew it, sobs were racking her body as her knees gave out from under her; Gabriel was just lucky he was an Archangel with great reflexes, otherwise she would've knocked her head on her car as she fell.

He cradled her against his chest as her heartbreaking sobs shook her body, his own heart clenching at the sight and sound of his little Hunter completely breaking down. It wasn't the first time he saw her like this but it never got easy, each time it happened, it took about a century of his life to witness it.

"Shh, my little Hunter, shh, it'll be alright, they wouldn't want to give up now, I know they wouldn't," He whispered, stroking her grimy hair with a gentle touch, not even caring that there was blood and mud caked in it. Her sobs slowed somewhat, turning into small snuffles, but her tears still fell like a waterfall down her cheeks.

"How...how did they die?" Her voice thick with tears had Gabe clenching his own eyes tightly to prevent any tears escaping.

"Gun point. A few people wanted what they had and they weren't taking no for an answer. The boys didn't even stand a chance but they went peacefully, they're up in their heaven at McGrinty's with their boys. They miss you but they're happy up there, they're always watching over you, you know?" He was rewarded with a small chuckle that made him grin, even though it was wet sounding, it was still beautiful.

"I don't even want to know what else they're doing up there," Hunter stated lightly, sniffling as she wiped her tears away, laughing lightly at the mild scowl Gabe had.

"You don't. I accidentally walked in on them once already, I'm scarred for life," That just made her laugh harder, leaning on Gabriel's shoulder to hug him. She was still hugging him as her laughter faded, content to just sit on the ground in front of her car with Gabriel beside her.

"Thank you, Gabe. I needed that," She whispered, giving him a small smile before she planted a wet kiss on his cheek; she snickered when Gabe made a noise of disgust as he wiped his cheek, glaring at her playfully.

"Anytime, my dear Huntie," He grinned at her cheekily as she glared at him now, giving her a quick peck on the lips before he jumped up and started sprinting towards the house. Hunter just sat there on the ground for a bit to recollect her thoughts, laughing at Gabriel's antics before standing up herself.

"Might as well face the storm," She mumbled to herself as she, too, started towards the house but at a much slower pace then Gabe.


	5. Chapter 5

Hunter took a deep breath and shook her head a bit as she stood in front of the screen door, schooling her expression into one of indifference, falling back into her usual self - the news of her segregate brothers' death hit too hard for her because she wasn't there to help them, to save them. The last time she saw them was that Boston case back in '09, the one that made them come back from Ireland and out of hiding to take care of.

She briefly wondered how Romeo was doing before shaking her head roughly - she would not go down that road again so soon. For all she knew, he was gone, too, and she just had to accept it - just like she has to accept everything else that happens. That part of her life was over - the killings, the secrecy, the deceit - it was over when the world ended and this new world called for Gunny O'Brien. Hunter was going to use 'Winchester' when she enlisted but seeing her brothers on the FBI Most Wanted sign in the Marines' office, well, she figured she'd stick with her adopted name to avoid questions.

Taking another deep breath, she rolled her shoulders back and flung open the door, walking in with as much self-confidence as she could with strangers who could either throw her out or decide to kill her. Hunter just didn't expect to see the living room empty, save for her brothers and their angels; she could hear low murmuring coming from the adjoining door that separated the dining and living room.

"What's going on?" She asked, moving to sit on the floor by Gabriel's feet - she was still streaked with dirt and blood from being in the woods all day - not that the other's weren't as dirty as she was, just a bit less. Besides, she sorta felt like she deserved to be on the floor at the moment.

"Meeting," Dean grunted, knocking back towards the door, "On what they're gonna do with us," Hunter pursed her lips and bit the inside of her cheek.

"You mean me, right? On what they're gonna do with me," She corrected him, raising her voice a bit to cut off everyone's protest, "Y'all and I both know that after what happened earlier, they're gonna question everything about me - out of all of them, at least one person had read the series and know my past without even asking," She shot a glare at the two angels like it was their fault she had a ten-book series about her life without her permission.

"What did you do anyways? With the Boston twins," Sam asked, still the curious puppy he's always been; Hunter had to swallow thickly before replying, masking her emotions like she was taught to.

"I was the researcher. Since I had access to the government files, I sorta...liberated a few of them, the ones that never get caught because of too much power and all that. I didn't get involved in the killings unless I was absolutely needed - the ones that require a long-distance kill, which only happened once or twice. The boys were good at their job," She explained, voice faded to a wispy tone at the talk of her boys, eyes glossing over as she went revisited those memories.

"You had access to government files?" Dean demanded, eyebrows furrowed in silent rage - here she was with access to everything for years while they had the FBI on their ass.

"Shove a butt-plug in, just because I had access to those files, doesn't mean I can just wipe out anyone I want," Hunter snapped, "I chose the lower-level case files, the ones that no one cared about anymore. I couldn't do anything about y'all's files, they were at the top of every agents' casework. If I had removed them, I would've been in deep shit, so shut the fuck up, you survived," Dean, at least, had the decency to look sheepish after her reprimand; the others just chuckled.

"The worst thing was," Hunter continued after a somewhat tense silence, "was when they found out I was adopted, that I was actually a Winchester and that I was with them, in ground zero - I actually found out through them. My adoptive parents told me but they never got a last name, so I couldn't go out searching for y'all. But when they brought me in for questioning, things about our home life, what dad was like, if I followed the whole satanic cult," She laughed bitterly, "but they forgot that I was only two at the time and I don't really remember much, just fire and people yelling," Swallowing thickly, she looked down at the floor so her brother's don't see the semi-lie she just told.

She remembered everything that night - she had woken up an hour before Mary did, having felt an unwelcome presence in her home and went to investigate it. When she found a strange man in little Sammy's room, she went to go get her parents, only for an unseen force to drag her further into the room and hid her in the corner, where it was dark enough for no one to see her but for her to see everything. She watched her mother burn that night, smelt the sickly smell of burnt human flesh, watched at the stranger drop it's blood into her brother's mouth, felt the fire lick at her skin. She didn't remember how she ended up outside but she had burns on her arms afterword.

Feeling a hand on her shoulder, she looked up and smiled gently at Gabriel, who was staring at her in concern - he knows what happened that night, knows what she's seen and how it haunts her every night. Giving his hand a gently squeeze of reassurance, she shook the memories from her mind, forcefully forgetting about it for now - she had enough death and sadness for one night.

"What I want to know," She continued and turned to Sam, "is how the hell you managed to keep your hair looking like a majestic piece of shit during the apocalypse," He let out a loud, incredulous bark of laughter before biting his lip, trying to keep his giggles in as his shoulders shook with mirth.

Taking a calming breath, he explained, "Bobby still has working showers at his place," Sam wasn't the only one who winced at Hunter's answered yelp of "What?!", the deep timber of her voice vibrating within their chests. She rounded on Gabriel, who shrunk in his seat and tried to hide behind Sam when he noticed the look in her eyes.

"You mean to tell me that I've been bathing in hot ass creek water for months when Bobby still has working showers. What the hell, Gabe?!" hissed Hunter, remembering to keep her voice down so the others in the kitchen won't hear her.

"I'm sorry," The archangel breathed, still shrinking away from her, "It's just, I know how you feel about me zapping you places. Besides, you once said you preferred the river water, said it felt like home, a sense of peace. I didn't want to take that away from you while you had it," Gabriel admitted, a slight pleading tone to make her understand his reasons but he shared a secretive glance with Castiel when he mentioned the river water. Hunter narrowed her eyes, catching that meaningful glance and almost growled - they were keeping something from her, most likely what Gabriel had slipped and mentioned earlier about angel business that involved her, which both angels knew she hated being left in the dark when something huge concerns her.

Hunter went to retort when the dining room door opened, her head snapping around to watch as the others piled out, some picking a piece of furniture to sit while some choose to stand, trying to elicit some authority over the others. The two that stood at the back of the group made her tense in her spot on the floor, body ready to bolt if they made the slightest move - she recognized one when she focused on their faces instead of their body language; Rick, the one with the injured child, wore his emotions on his face - though he made a good show of not letting most of them know.

The other one, however, gave her a horrible vibe, one that told her to watch her back with him. If the way his sturdy build just screamed 'intimidating' might've done it for her if it weren't for the look in his eyes - it was a look she's seen one too many times in Iraq, from both the terrorists and her own comrades after they went home; it was a look of complete psychosis, someone who lost everything and snapped, only having the most redeemable thing in their mind was to inflict pain on anything and everything.

Hunter mentally snorted - if they were talking about booting her because she had a moment of weakness, they obviously don't know what's going on in the mind of one of their leaders.

"We've come to a decision," Rick started, keeping his voice calm and firm, his gaze jumping between the five guests. "You're all welcome to stay if y'all up to answering a few of our questions, a background check of sorts, if you will," He motioned to his group with a small gesture of his hand and took a seat next to who Hunter assumed was his wife, leaving the floor open to anyone who wanted to start.

"How old are you all?" An old man standing by the fire place asked, twirling his boating hat between his fingers anxiously. Hunter shared a look with the others to see who was going to answer, making Sam roll his eyes in exasperation when her and Dean got caught in a stare down.

"These two," He said, gesturing to his older siblings in a staring match, "are twins, they're thirty-two. This one," he rested his hand on Gabriel's head, ignoring the archangel's glare, "is forty-one, his brother is thirty-seven," he gestured to Castiel before pointing to himself, "and I'm twenty-eight." Sam had guessed around the age of the angel's vessels to tell the others. The group nodded to themselves, once again falling into an awkward silence as they tried to think of questions.

"Hunter!" Glenn called out, bringing her out of her staring contest with Dean with a sharp twist of her head, only to look back at her twin with a heated glare when he cheered loudly for "winning". Turning back to Glenn, she answered him with a bright smile, already thinking of the young Asian man as her friend. Smiling back, he asked, "What was it like growing up in Ireland?" The ones who weren't on the highway earlier raised their eyebrows at this tiny fact, turning to watch Hunter in interest.

She hummed, playing with a stiff chuck of her hair as she tried to think of a response, "It was alright, was raised on a farm, tending to the sheep and horses, that sort of thing. My adoptive parents were alright, very strict but good people," She missed the glance exchanged between the angels but her brothers didn't, furrowing their eyebrows at each other and vowed to ask them what that look meant later. "I was home schooled with two of my friends, we lived way out in the countryside for any proper schooling but there was a small town near by that we'd always sneak off to and pocket whatever goodies we got our hands on," Hunter smiled fondly as she gazed off into space, lost in the some of her best childhood memories.

"What about you guys?" Rick's wife asked, nodding towards the four men opposite of her. Sam and Dean both went to answer her before they stopped and shared a look, communicating through facial gestures; Sam, finally, turned back to the lady with a huff towards Dean.

"Our dad was a traveling salesman, so we moved around a lot. I had gotten tired of the constant moving and left for college, I wanted to be a lawyer," He let out a bitter laugh, "turns out being a lawyer wasn't meant for me, turned out to be a researcher instead. Dean, here, followed dad a bit before he broke off and went to be a mechanic," Sam smiled a bit as he clapped Dean on the shoulder, making his brother glare at him a bit. The others were quick to realize that either Dean was uncomfortable talking to them or that Sam was just the one with better people pleasing skills then his brother.

Lori turned to the other set of brothers across from her and with one glance, she knew that only one would be talking for both - like Sam and Dean, Castiel seemed to be the most closed off and wary of them then Gabriel.

When the lady's eyes turned to him, Gabriel chimed, "Well! Our ol' daddy-o was the owner of a church, head priest and all that, so Cassie here and I practically grew up there, didn't really know much else besides that. He was very strict, ya know?" He stage-whispered the others, covering his mouth and leaning away from Castiel. "Cassie was very loyal to the church and to dad, followed his footsteps and became a preacher. Me? Well, I wanted something else, something more fun.

"I became a pornstar," He finished with a smug smirk and a shameless shrug as he fell back into his seat, the lady gaping at him like Gabriel just revealed he was an archangel.

"I knew that was you!" A sudden cry got everyone's attention, staring at Hunter as she grinned manically at Gabriel. "I knew it! The guys in my squad tried to convince me it was just a look-a-like but I knew it once I saw the birthmark shaped like a horn on your ass," She just laughed triumphantly at Gabriel's mortified expression.

"Why were you watching porn?" Castiel asked her, head tilting to the side, genuinely confused as to why she would watch something like that, let alone broadcast for others to know. Wasn't the act of indulging in pornography suppose to be private?

Hunter shrugged, "Who doesn't watch porn? - and don't say yourself because I know you have!" She interrupted him when he opened his mouth to retort. "Besides, it was a gay porno and a few guys in my squad were interested," Gabriel's expression just soured, more for the fact that his Hunter knew he did porn and had _watched it with a bunch of guys_ then the fact that she blabbed about his birthmark.

Rick was grinning to himself as he watched the five strangers interact - they all acted like siblings, one bicker after another, all in good-nature. They could use some of that humor around, especially now with the way things are, everyone's been feeling down in the dumps lately. His mind wandered to Carl and Rick knew, that once his son was better and on his feet again, he would make fast friends with these five - especially Hunter, from what Glenn told him earlier about her arm tattoo.

If you ask Rick later in the coming months if he made the right decision in letting these five people into his group, he wouldn't hesitate to say yes.


End file.
